Tone clarifier for musical instruments



June 92 1,539,961

w. SCOTT TONE CLARIFIER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed Dec, 15, 1920 GilPatented June 2, 1925.

UNITED STATES WALTER SCOTT, OF SHERIDAN, WYOMING.

TONE CLARIFIER FOB. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. i

Application filed December 15, 1920. Serial No. 430,918.

To all who/n it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVALTER Soon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sheridan, in the county of Sheridan and State of Wyoming,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tone Clarifiers forMusical Instruments, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and particularly to theprovision of means in a musical instrument whereby the tone produced bythe instrument is reinforced and clarified.

The general object of my invention is to provide means for clarifyingand strengthening or reinforcing the tone produced by a musicalinstrument, this means consisting in the use of stretched coiled springsdisposed within the tone chamber of the instrument and extending acrossthe chamber, the invention being applicable to violins, violincellos,pianos, megaphones, the amplifying horns or tone chambers ofphonographs,

and in fact all instruments wherein a musical sound is produced.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accommnying drawings, wherein zFigure 1 is a sectional view of a violin with my invention appliedthereto,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the violin;

Figure is a fragmentary sectional view of one end of the violin showingthe means for tensioning the springs;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a horn-like instrument, asfor instance a megaphone having my invention applied thereto;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 lfiigure 4;

Referring to these drawings, and. [)tllllflllarly to Figure f, it willbe seen that I have illust ated as one embodiment of my invenlion aviolin, designated generally 16, and having the usual strings 17 uponthe exterior of the violin, passing over the usual bridge, and connectedto the neck 18 in the usual manner. Disposed within the violin andpreferably extending longitudinally thereof adjacent to but outof'contact with the belly of the violin are a plurality of coiledsprings 19.

I am aware of the fact that it has been proposed in violins to stretchstrings with in the violin beneath the belly thereof for the purpose ofreinforcing the sound, these strings being tuned to harmonize with theregular strings of the instrument and so that the strings will vibratein unison there with, but I have found by considerable experiment thatcoiled springs under slight tension are much more efiicient in every waythan uncoiled strings, such as strings of catgut or like materialcommonly used in violins. I have found that if coiled springs underslight tension are placed within the sound chamber of the violin, thatis within the violin, these coiled springs will vibrate with the leastsound, whereas stretched wires or stretched strings, particularly underthe tension necessary to keep them stretched will not vibratesympathetically to but may have a different number of coils to the inch,or the springs may differ from each other as regards the gauge of wireand. the number of coils to the inch, or the coils may have differentdiameters. This difference in the gauge of the wire or in the size ofthecoils or the number of coils would cause the springs to differ in thedegree of resiliency, in other words differ in their elasticity.Preferably the springs will be of wire of different gauges and the coilswill be of different diameters for the different strings, and preferablysome means will be provided whereby the springs may be kept at a certaintension. Thus I have illustrah cd in Figure 3 that end of the violinreunite from the neck as being u'ovided with tnrn-- ing posts or pins,around which the extremities of the wire strings are wrapped where bythe tension of the wires may be increased or decreased, but this ispurely illustrative and I do not wish to be limited to the particularmeans illustrated for tensioning these wires. These posts are designated20 in Figure 3.

In Figure 4, I show another embodiment of my invention wherein I haveillustrated a megaphone or amplifying horn 22, such as is used withphonographs or under other circumstances, wherein there is disposed aseries of coiled springs 21 which extend transversely across theamplifying chamber or tone chamber and which are attached at theiropposite ends to the Wall of the amplifying chamber or tone chamber 22,these springs being o'l different diameters and being under slighttension. I have illustrated the application of my invention to twodifferent forms of instruments, but it is to be understood that thesedi'lferent forms are illustrative of the fact that my invention may beapplied to all kinds of sound producing: instruments, and I do not Wishto be limited to any particular kind of musical instrument. Thus it maybe applied to pianos, violins, to the brass instruments of an orchestra,phonographs, megaphone-i, organ pipes, and used in many otherconstructions.

I claim A megaphone en'ibodying an outwardly extending body forming atone chamber and open at its opposite ends, and coiled springs extendingparallel to each other transverse- 1y to the axis of the tone chamberand attached at their extremities to the wall of the tone chamber, saidsprings having different relative resilience and being thereby adaptedto vibrate sympathetically and reinforce air vibrations created in saidtone chamber.

In testimony whereof I hereunto alllx my signature.

\VALTER SCOTT.

